1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photographic method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a photographic method and apparatus which produce special photographic effects by slow synchro-flash photography.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many compact cameras have a built-in flash in a camera body and are configured such that the flash is fired automatically when photography is taken in the dark.
For flash photography, shutter speed is normally fixed at approximately 1/60 second to prevent camera shake and subject movement. If a flash photograph of a person is taken against a night scene at such a shutter speed, although the person is photographed appropriately, the night scene which the flash light does not reach appears totally dark in the photograph. Thus, to photograph a subject against a night scene or the like, slow synchro-flash photography is used which involves taking a photograph by firing a flash at a slow shutter speed of 1/15 second or longer (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-210038). Since the background which the flash light does not reach is exposed sufficiently, the slow synchro-flash photography provides an image re-creating an atmosphere which exists when the photograph is taken.
Flash photography is normally taken at a fixed zoom level, and known methods for producing special photographic effects include a method for taking flash photography by zooming at the time of exposure (zoom burst) (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 5-5923 and 63-318531). The zoom burst provides an image in which there are streaks toward the center.